We who follow the Orioles here in Baltimore have already heard from former third baseman Miguel Tejada, and how excited he is to be back in the playoff hunt once again, as he was traded to the San Diego Padres last week for a Double A pitching propsect.

This is the second time the Orioles have shipped Tejada away for young pitching, as the Orioles traded him to Houston in 2007 for Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Troy Patton, Dennis Sarfate, and Michael Costanzo.

Now it would only be fitting for us to hear Wynn Pelzer, that prospect the Orioles received from the Padres in exchange for Tejada, and what kind of opportunity this presents for him.

I’m excited to be here,” Pelzer told Drew Forrester Thursday on “The Morning Reaction”. “It’s a new opportunity to try and get to the big leagues with a new organization. You always want to make it with the team that drafted you, but I’m just taking a positive outlook on this, and we’ll see what happens.”

The low-down with the trade came down to Pelzer as quite a shock.

“They didn’t tell me anything. It was in the middle of batting practice at San Antonio. I moved to the bullpen a couple weeks ago, so I kind of had a little idea that was something of an audition. I probably profile more as a reliever more than a starter.”

“It’s just part of the business. It’s unexpected, but it can always happen.”

Pelzer was 6-9 with a 4.20 ERA for the Padres Double-A affiliate, the San Antonio Missions. along with a 1.66 WHIP. He has good strikeout numbers (83K in 94 IP); his issue is issuing too many walks (56).

“We had a little trouble with that this year not throwing enough strikes to guys,” Pelzer said. “I’m trying to correct that. I’m trying to work on my mechancis every day out there, so if asked, yes…I want to cut down on the walks.”

Pelzer said that problem is just due to his demeanor on the mound where he wants to punish the opposing hitters.

“It’s trying to get better every time you go out there. You want to be aggressive and attack hitters and throw first pitch strikes to these guys, cause everyone is dangerous with a bat in their hand. I just try and go after hitters.”

The other nice thing about Pelzer is that he has experience as a starter and as a reliever. Recently making the switch to a reliever for the Missions-a position he has not been in since college-it would appear that he had more value to the Orioles than the Padres’ seventh-best prospect ranked by Baseball America warranted him.

Pelzer just wants to make it to the big leagues, no matter what role he has.

“I was a bullpen guy in college, so it really doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I just want to pitch. Give me a role and tell me what to do, and I’m going to go out and try and give my best effort whenever I step out on the field. Thats all I can do.”

Pelzer has already made two apperances for Double-A Bowie, where he has posted a 2.25 ERA in four innings of work. He has struck out five while only walking one.

But mainly, Pelzer has been spending most of his time getting to know his new teammates and his new coach in Brad Komminsk.

“He’s a good guy. Everyone here’s really nice people. Im just trying to get comfortable around these guys, and do my part here in Bowie.”

And ultimately, Pelzer is ready to get to work at refining himself as a pitcher, live up to the potential that Andy MacPhail believes he has, and finally make the jump to the big leagues in an organization that sees good things out of their young pitchers.

“I’m just going to try and take care of baseball and whatever happens, happens. I’m happy to be here, and Im looking forward to the future here in Baltimore.”

Tune into WNST and WNST.net as we continue to track Wynn Pelzer’s path to the Big Leagues. WNST-We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports!